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Although NSAIDs increase cardiovascular and gastrointestinal risks to a varying extent, the effects of different regimens in particular patients can be predicted once the baseline risks of such hazards are known, according to the results of meta-analyses designed to characterize and quantify the risks of NSAID regimens.

The results of the meta-analyses showed that high-dose diclofenac has vascular risks similar to coxibs. It is possible that high-dose ibuprofen also has vascular effects similar to coxibs. High-dose naproxen appears to be associated with less vascular risk than other NSAIDs, but it is unclear whether this is true of the lower doses used most commonly in clinical practice.

Hypothetical calculations of the annual excess risks of each of the main NSAIDs (as compared with placebo) showed that among individuals at high risk (2% per annum) of major vascular events, for every 1,000 patients allocated to a year of treatment with a coxib regimen or high-dose diclofenac regimen, about seven or eight more would have a major vascular event, and two of those events would be fatal.